Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/470908
March / April 2015 35 After all an additional 279 hp has kicked in, just like afterburners lighting up in a military fighter jet. Zip- ping through the 7 speed PDK gear system, you can reach 100 MPH in 2.6 sec- onds. Eighteen seconds lat- er the 918 tops out at nearly 210 MPH. At this point one struggles to remember to breathe. If a 918 driver should spy an upcoming radar trap, huge brakes harness this bal- listic from 60 to a dead stop in only 94 feet. Helping to harness this hybrid rocket ship, huge 325/30-21 rear tires squat to the ground. Monster trucks do not use tires this wide, but then they are not hurtling around cor- ners at 170 plus miles per hour. So here we have a vi- sion of beauty, churning out ungodly horsepower and speed, using the latest in technology for maximum performance, yet returning reasonable fuel mileage. The 918 selling price pushes close to if not above what some people may earn in their lifetime. How and why does Porsche put this puzzle together and sell out its over 900 examples? In my opinion Porsche sees cars like the 918 as op- portunities to release their creative juices on both the guts and the skin of an au- tomobile. Besides grabbing worldwide headlines, the 918 technology eventually filters down to the 911s, Caymans and Cayennes we mere mor- tals drive. One may wonder why Porsche would produce such a limited creation, but once you put all of the piec- es together, you can see that they have solved the puzzle. To stay ahead of worldwide competition one must flex their creative sole and then produce masterpieces that all may enjoy. (As a side note, I would like to thank Aristocrat Mo- tors for the opportunity to get up close and personal with the 918. Alas, this black beauty was already sold, and as a result access to the interior or a brief test drive down I-35 was forbid- den. Sadly I understood. Thanks also to the new own- er for letting me capture the elegance of this fantastic au- tomobile. The owner is lo- cal, so perhaps others will be afforded a fleeting glance of this 918 as it passes them on the interstate or glides through the Plaza.) - JIM Cars are examples of art on wheels and the 918 is a masterpiece.